System and method for computerized global messaging encryption

ABSTRACT

A computer based message encryption system for transmitting encrypted message between a sending member of an internal messaging system and a receiving non-member or receiving member external user without requiring the sender or recipient member to maintain and support encryption key pairs themselves. An internal system that contains an external server for creating key pairs for message encryption between the senders and receives for the encryption of messages. The key pairs are encrypted themselves according to an encryption pass-phrase so that the pass-phrase may used to decrypt the key pair which in turn may be used to decrypt the message. In response to a predetermined time or destroy command, said encryption key pairs are destroyed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of secureinformation transmissions and, more particularly, to the encryption ofelectronic messages between internal members of an encryption system andexternal non-members, especially for electronic messages transmitted onthe Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THEM INVENTION

[0002] Given the rapid expansion of the Internet, the reliance uponelectronic messaging, the widespread transmission of data and theongoing concerns of privacy and security, cryptography is an area towhich considerable attention must be directed. The problem exists inthree areas, first, between members of a local message system having anencryption system; second, between members and non-members of theencryption system; and, third, between two non-members.

[0003] One method of sending secured messages for these three cases isthe use of session keys that apply to a single information exchangesession. Another method is by using public and private keys to encryptand decrypt messages. The term encryption key pair is used to includesession keys, public and private keys, and can both can be encrypted andunencrypted themselves. Both methods use an encryption key anddecryption key for electronic messages. In this second system, two keysare mathematically linked; the public key is distributed to other usersand used to encrypt messages back to the sender, and the private key iskept secret and used to decrypt a message encrypted with the public key.There are disadvantages with both methods. For example, while singlesession keys, having an encryption and decryption key, may be verysecure, these keys are difficult to distribute and maintain especiallywhen multiple parties need to communicate securely with one another.Therefore, it is problematic, to say the least, to maintain a singlesession encryption key pair system when the users could include all theusers of the Internet. This is especially true when the number ofpotential Internet users is expected to reach 490 million by the year2002.

[0004] Existing public/private key systems require that each user have apublic and private key such as the widely used PGP system. This requiresthat each individual have a public key or encryption key distributed toother users while the individual keeps a private key or decryption keysecret for the decryption of the messages. These traditional systemsrequire that each user of a public/private key system maintain a set ofkeys, have software for utilizing the keys, and have each messageencrypted and decrypted with the keys and software. Again, considerablesetup and maintenance is required by the senders and recipients to usethis type of system. The automation of such traditional systems cansimply these tasks.

[0005] This task is somewhat simplified when limited to local users of acentral message system. An internal server can automatically manage theassociated keys as well as automate much of the encryption anddecryption process. Additionally, the subscribers to a secure messageservice can have significantly more of this process automated, therebyreducing the complexity and difficulty for the local user or subscriber.In fact, the encryption and decryption can become transparent. The taskis complicated when it is necessary to send messages beyond the localsystem or subscribers to third parties. For example, a local user ormember may wish to send an encrypted message over the Internet to anemail account maintained by an ISP or other source, such as a Hotmail,AOL, or Yahoo! account. While members of the local encryption system canhave the benefit of managed keys, other users or non-menbers do not havethis benefit. The members of an encryption system need a simple butsecure system to send encrypted messages to a non-member user. Further,existing secure message management systems have often required difficultinstallations having processes that are difficult to use by thewidespread user community of the Internet and other networks.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need in this area to provide for a securemessaging system which does not require individuals to maintainpermanent keys nor is restricted to a particular network in order toreceive and decrypt encrypted messages. Further, there is a need for asecure message system that enables the user to send and receive messageswithout requiring complicated setup by the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention overcomes these and other problems of theprior art by providing a computerized message encryption system andmethod for transmitting encrypted messages between an internal user ormember of an internal system to an external or non-member recipient inresponse to a request to a processing unit of a computer. The system, inone embodiment, comprises a set of computer readable instructionsembodied in a computer readable medium that when read by the processingunit causes the processing unit to create an encryption key pair, storethe key pair in the computer readable medium, encrypt the message withthe key pair, and transmit a message notice to the recipient. The keypair can be stored in encrypted form as well. Further, the system of thepresent invention can include computer readable instructions forassociating an encryption pass-phrase with the encryption key pair sothat a proper pass-phrase is required for decryption of the key pair tosubsequently decrypt the message. Further, the system can includeinstructions for receiving a view message request from the recipient,receiving a decryption pass-phrase associated with the view messagerequest from the recipient, decrypting the message with the decryptionpass-phrase and encryption key pair, and providing the decrypted messageavailable to the recipient.

[0008] The key pair can be destroyed after a prescribed period of timeas well as by a destroy command received from the recipient. Therefore,the present invention provides for a secure message system, methods, andmeans of communication between members and non-members of an encryptionsystem.

[0009] Another benefit of this invention is to allow a non-member tosend an encrypted reply to the originating member.

[0010] Yet another benefit is to allow the original sender to establishan expiration period for the outgoing message to destroy the key pairafter a period of time so that the decryption of the message with thekey pair is not subsequently possible.

[0011] These benefits are accomplished by providing for a computerizedsystem, method, and means for encrypting an electronic message between asender and a recipient regardless of whether the sender or recipient aremembers of an encryption system comprising a computer processor incommunication with a computer readable medium, a communications link incommunication with the computer readable medium for communications witha sender terminal and a recipient terminal, and, a set of non-memberinstructions contained within the computer readable medium for, whenprocessed by the computer processor and in response to a member (sender)sending an electronic message to a non-member (recipient) from thesender terminal, prompting the member for an encryption pass-phrase atthe sender terminal, receiving an encryption pass-phrase from the memberat the sender terminal, creating an encryption key pair, encrypting theelectronic message responsive to key pair, encrypting the key pair,sending a notification to the recipient terminal that an encryptedmessage is available to the non-member, prompting the non-member for adecryption pass-phrase corresponding to the encryption message at therecipient terminal, receiving the decryption pass-phrase from thenon-member, decrypting the encryption key pairs in response to receivinga decryption pass-phrase corresponding to the pass-phrase associatedwith the encrypted message, and, decrypting the message with thedecrypted key pairs so that the decrypted message is available forreview by the non-member.

[0012] Additionally, a member database can be contained within thecomputer readable medium, have a member record associated with each ofthe members of the encryption system. A set of member locationinstructions can be contained within the computer readable medium forquerying the member database to determine whether the recipient has anassociated record within the member database and executing thenon-member instructions if no associated record is found. The non-memberinstructions can include instructions for prompting the member at thesender terminal for a message lifetime value, associating the messagelifetime value with the encrypted message sent by the member, and,deletion instructions, contained within the computer readable medium fordeleting the encrypted message or encryption key pair upon expiration ofthe lifetime value associated with the electronic message so that uponexpiration of the lifetime value, the electronic message cannot bedecrypted and is unavailable.

[0013] A message database can be included within the computer readablemedium having a message record associated with the electronic message,and the non-menber instructions can include instructions creating amessage ID associated with the electronic message to be sent to thenon-member, storing the message ID within the message record associatedwith the electronic message, creating an encryption key pair associatedwith the electronic message, encrypting the encryption key pair, storingthe encrypted key pair within the message record associated with theelectronic message according to the encryption key pair so that theencryption key pair is used to decrypt the electronic message. A set ofstale message instructions contained within the computer readable mediumfor deleting the encryption key pair upon the expiration of apredetermined period of time can also be provided. These stale messageinstructions can include instructions for removing the message recordfrom the message database as well.

[0014] The non-member instructions can also include instructions forprompting the non-member for a decrypting pass-phrase to be used todecrypt the message or encryption key pair, receiving the decryptingpass-phrase from the non-member, retrieving the message record from themessage database according to the message ID, retrieving the associatedkey pair from the message record, and, decrypting the electronic messageaccording to the key pair and decryption pass-phrase. Additionally, thenon-member instructions can include instructions for creating a key pairresponsive to having a message to be encrypted, encrypting the messagewith the key pair, encrypting the key pair with the pass-phrase, and,deleting the pass-phrase.

[0015] Deletion instructions can be contained within the computerreadable medium to delete the encryption key pair upon receiving adelete request from the non-member so that the non-member can expresslyrequest for the encrypted message to be made unavailable for review.

[0016] A member database contained within the computer readable mediumcan have a member record associated with each of the members of theencryption system, a unique encryption key contained within the memberrecord associated with each of the members of the encryption system, aset of reply instructions contained with the computer readable mediumfor, in response to receiving a reply command from the non-memberthrough the recipient terminal, receiving a reply message from thenon-member intended for the sending member, retrieving the uniqueencryption key associated with the sending member from the memberdatabase, encrypting the reply message according to the unique publickey of the sending member, and, informing the sending member that anencrypted reply message from the non-member is available for decryptingand review by the member so that a non-member can send an encryptedreply to a member of an encryption system without having to be a memberof that encryption system.

[0017] The member database contained within the computer readable mediumcan also have a member record associated with each of the members of theencryption system, a unique public key contained within the memberrecord associated with each of the members of the encryption system, aunique public key contained within the member record associated witheach of the members of the encryption system, and a set of memberinstructions contained within the computer readable medium for, inresponse to a first member sending an electronic message to a secondmember, retrieving a second member's public key from the membersdatabase, encrypting the electronic message responsive to the secondmember's public key, and, sending a notification to the second membernotifying the second member that an encrypted message is available fordecryption so that an electronic message is encrypted automatically andthe receiving member is notified automatically when an encrypted messageis available for decryption and review. The member instructions caninclude instructions for, in response to the second member requesting todecrypt the encrypted message, retrieving a second member's private keyfrom the member database, decrypting the encrypted electronic messagefrom the first member according to the second member's private key, andproviding the decrypted electronic message to the second member forreview so that an electronic message can be encrypted, sent from a firstmember to a second member and decrypted automatically.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The invention will be more readily understood from a reading ofthe following specification and by reference to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention isshown and wherein:

[0019]FIG. 1 is a schematic of a computerized system and method forglobal messaging encryption according to the present invention;

[0020]FIG. 2 is a schematic of data flow and components of theinvention;

[0021]FIG. 3A and 3B are schematics showing the various configurationsof the invention;

[0022]FIG. 4A is a flowchart showing the steps taken in sending andreceiving the message;

[0023]FIG. 4B is a continuation of the flowchart of FIG. 4;

[0024]FIG. 5 is a schematic showing the message flow between a senderand recipient; and,

[0025]FIG. 6 is a schematic of the encryption and decryption of amessage.

[0026] Description of a Preferred Embodiment The detailed descriptionthat follows may be presented in terms of program procedures executed ona computer or network of computers. These procedural descriptions arerepresentations used by those skilled in the art to most effectivelyconvey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Theseprocedures herein described are generally a self-consistent sequence ofsteps leading to a desired result. These steps require physicalmanipulations of physical quantities such as electrical or magneticsignals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, orotherwise manipulated. An object or module is a section of computerreadable code embodied in a computer readable medium that is designed toperform a specific task or tasks. Actual computer or executable code orcomputer readable code may not be contained within one file or onestorage medium but may span several computers or storage mediums. Theterms “host,” “server,” “client,” or “computer” may be hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software that provides thefunctionality described herein.

[0027] The present invention is described below with reference toflowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus, (“systems”) and computerprogram products according to the invention. It will be understood thateach block of a flowchart illustration or diagram component can beimplemented by a set of computer readable instructions or code. Thesecomputer readable instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine such that the instructionswill execute on a computer or other data processing apparatus to createa means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart blockor blocks.

[0028] These computer readable instructions may also be stored in acomputer readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in a computer readable mediumproduce an article of manufacture including instruction means thatimplement the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.Computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable apparatus to produce a computer executed process suchthat the instructions are executed on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, elements of the flowchartsupport combinations of means for performing the special functions,combination of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will beunderstood that each block of the flowchart illustrations can beimplemented by special purpose hardware based computer systems thatperform the specified functions, or steps, or combinations of specialpurpose hardware or computer instructions. The present invention is nowdescribed more fully herein with reference to the drawings in which thepreferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and willfully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0029] It is well understood by those of skilled in the art that thecomputer network can be provided in various configurations. Furtherwhile the instructions relating to the encryption key pairs, passwordand durational message instructions are described as being processed andstored by a single server, it is understood that multiple servers orother devices can be utilized to process and store the instructions.Further, while the system is described with relation to computerinstructions in computer readable medium, it is well understood thatother technologies such as firmware, flashed chips, EEPROM, or othersimilar technology, can be utilized to transmit, store and process suchinstructions. For example, in other configurations handhelds, wirelessphones, PDA's and portables can be utilized to transmit, receive andprocess such instructions associated with messages. This is equallyapplicable to the description of the logic flow that follows.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram is illustrated showing aninternal network employing an internal server 10, external server 12,and mail server 14. Internal server 10 constitutes hardware and softwarefor primarily providing a key pair messaging encryption system forinternal users or members 16 a and 16 b. It should be noted that thesoftware of the internal server and the encryption messaging system may,but need not, reside on physically separate hardware from the externalserver 12 and mail server 14. In the event the software does reside onphysically separate hardware, the communication link between internalusers 16 a and 16 b and the server 14 are connected through network hub18. This allows electronic messages to be transmitted from member 16 ato internal server 10 for encryption with member 16 b public key 30 a sothat member 16 b can decrypt the message with the private or decryptionkey 30 b when received from user 16 a. Internal server 10 maintains thepublic and private key information for each member in order to makeencryption transparent to that particular member. Therefore, encryptedcommunications are automatically encrypted without the member having tospecifically manage the key pair. Internal network A can also beconnected to an external network B so members can transmit messages toand from external users or non-members 20 a through 20 d. For example, amember to the encryption system can send an encrypted message tonon-member 20 a through 20 d. This allows encrypted messages to travelbetween the member and anyone on the Internet. Internal network A isconnected to router 22 and through ISP 24 a to Internet 26. ISP 24 b and24 c are also connected to Internet 26 so that communication is possiblebetween members and non-members, internally or externally.

[0031] Referring now to FIG. 2, internal network A is shown in moredetail. When a member transmits the message, shown generally as C, themessage is initially transmitted to internal server 10. The internalserver maintains a member database 28 with a record for each membercomprising a row or alternatively another designated portion of thedatabase. Associated with the members are a public and private key pair30 that contains public key 30 a and private key 30 b for each member.The internal server software then determines if the recipient of themessage is a member or not of the encryption system. If the recipient isa member, the internal server accesses the public and private key of therecipient from the information in database 28 and 30 and encryptsmessage 32 with signature 34 based on the information discovered by theinternal server. The message is then routed to the recipient so that therecipient may decrypt and read the message based on the recipient'sprivate or decryption key.

[0032] If the server cannot discover the message's intended recipient orrecipients as a member, message 32 is then sent to external server 12since the recipient is not a member of the encryption system. Externalserver 12 then writes a record to external message information database36 which contains fields for such information as the message ID 38 a, anexpiration date, if desired, for the message 38 c entered by the sender,and, the encryption key pairs 38 d created by the external server forencryption and decryption. The message is then encrypted by the externalserver based on the encryption key pairs. At this point, the message canbe sent to ISP 24 a and out to the wide area network or Internet 26informing the recipient that a message has been sent to them.

[0033] In one embodiment, when the encryption key pairs are created bythe external server, they are used to encrypt the message. Theencrypting pass-phrase received by the sender can be used to encrypt theencryption key pairs themselves. Then, the pass-phrase is discarded ordeleted. Therefore, the key pairs can only be decrypted with thepass-phase use for encryption. When the recipient presents thedecryption pass-phrase, this pass-phrase is used to decrypt theencryption key pair and if the results is a valid key pair, than theproper decryption pass-phrase was presented and the key pair isavailable to decrypt the message. By only storing an encryptedencryption key pair and specifically not storing unencrypted encryptionkey pair or encryption pass-phrase, no person authorized or otherwisecan access the system and view the message without a proper decryptionpass-phrase.

[0034] The communications between the internal system A and the Internetis further illustrated in FIG. 3A. In this illustration, the internalserver and normal message server are physically contained within thesame hardware while the external server software is physically separate.Member 16 a communicates with the combination internal server andmessage server through IMAP and SMTP. IMAP stands for Internet MessageAccess Protocol and is a protocol for receiving messages while SMTPstands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and is used for sendingmessages between servers. Typically most Internet messages use SMTP togo from server to server and the messages are retrieved using eitherIMAP or Post Office Protocol. Post Office Protocol, or POP, is also usedto retrieve messages from the mail server. For messages travelingoutside of internal network A, both internal server mail server, andexternal server communicate with ISP 24 a using SMTP protocol.

[0035]FIG. 3B shows internal network where internal server and the mailserver are physically separated. In this configuration, the internalserver communicates with the mail server through IMAP or SMTP and themail server communicates with the ISP 24 a using SMTP. The variousprotocols in communications will be discussed in further detail in thediscussion showing the physical transmissions of the various messagesthrough the system.

[0036] Referring now to FIG. 5, the message flow is illustrated throughthe system. Member 16 a, also referred to as the sender, initiallywishes to send a message to a non-member 20 a, also referred to as therecipient. The initial message 32 is created by the sender and isreceived by a set of computer readable instructions named the prompter40 which is software residing on the internal server 12 (not shown).When message 32 is received by prompter 40, internal server determinesthat the recipient is not contained within member database 28 andcreates form 42 which is transmitted to sender 16 a. Form 42 prompts foran encryption pass-phrase 38 b, mode of delivery, and expiration datefor the message. The completed form 44 is transmitted to a set ofcomputer instructions named the sender 46, which resides on the externalserver. An encryption key pair 136 (FIG. 6) is created and used toencrypt the original message 32.

[0037] The key pair is then encrypted using the encryption pass-phraseand encrypted key pair 136 (FIG. 6) can be stored in database 36 forfuture access. The encryption pass-phrase can then be discarded.

[0038] Message notification form 48 is transmitted to recipient 20 a toinform the recipient that an encrypted message has been sent to therecipient from the sender and prompts the recipient for a decryptionpass-phrase 146 (FIG. 6). Recipient 20 a supplies the decryptionpass-phrase in pass phrase form 50 which is transmitted to receiver 52.A set of computer instructions named the receiver, upon verification ofthe decryption pass-phrase, decrypts the message 54 and makes themessage available to recipient 20 a. At this point, recipient 20 a canview the decrypted message from sender 16 a. Next, the recipient maywish to send a reply message 56 back to the sender. If so, the replymessage is received by computer readable instructions called the replier58. The replier then encrypts reply 56 using the known encryption key ofsender 16 a retrieved from the internal server and sends the encryptedreply 60 to sender 16 a. Alternatively, recipient 20 a may send adestroy command 62 to the computer instructions named the destroyer 64informing the external server to destroy the encryption key pair indatabase 36 or the message itself so that the original message 32 isunable to be decrypted. Additionally, the encryption key pair or themessage can be deleted once the expiration date has passed by thecomputer instructions named the reaper 66. The system administrator isof the external server may set parameters so that messages which havenot been opened within a specified period of time have the key pairsdeleted, making the messages impossible to decrypt. Therefore, both thesender and the external server administrator can set the time for whicha message can be decrypted.

[0039] Referring now to FIG. 4A, the logic flow of the system isillustrated in further detail. In step 70, sender drafts the initialmessage that is forwarded to the internal server in step 72. Internalserver performs a query for the recipient in step 74 and an inquiry ismade to whether the recipient is found in step 76. If the recipient isfound in step 78, the message is encrypted with the recipientsencryption key and transmitted to the recipient in step 80 where themessage is available for decryption using the recipient's decryption keyin step 82. Inquiries are made on whether the recipient replies in step84 and, if not, the process ends. However, if the recipient replies, areply is encrypted with the sender's encryption key in step 86 so thatthe reply is able to be decrypted with the sender's decryption key instep 88. Inquiries are made to whether the sender has replied to thereply in step 90 and, if not, this process ends. Otherwise, the processreturns to step 76.

[0040] If the recipient was not found in the member database at step 76,then the prompter 40 sends a prompt form to the sender requesting apass-phrase associated with the message, delivery mode, and messagelifetime in step 92. The sender completes this form which is then routedto the external server in step 94 thereby providing the external serverwith the encryption pass-phrase 38 b (FIG. 6), mode, and messagelifetime information. Encryption key pair 136 (FIG. 6) for this messageis created in step 96 and sent to the external server. The message isencrypted in step 98 with the key pair and a notice is sent to therecipient informing the recipient that an encrypted message has beensent from the sender. It is noted that it is advantageous to remove theencryption pass-phrase and the unencrypted key pair from the computerreadable medium. Recipient receives the message notice and is promptedfor a decryption pass-phrase in step 100. Such notifications can beprovided, transmitted, and received utilizing various technologies andsystems such as handhelds, wireless phones, PDA's and portables.

[0041] Referring now to FIG. 4B, the decryption pass-phrase is enteredby recipient in a form in step 102 and the entered information is sentto the external server. The decryption pass-phrase is checked forvalidity in step 104 and, if invalid, the recipient is notified that theentered decryption pass-phrase is invalid in step 106 and the processreturns to step 100. If the decryption pass-phrase is valid, externalserver performs a key pair look-up based upon the message ID andretrieves the key pair to decrypt the key pair and subsequently themessage in step 108. Alternatively, the key pair can be retrieved duringthe message ID look-up. If the message ID look-up of step 110 isunsuccessful, the key pair can be set to expire in step 112 and theprocess ends. If the key pair is not expired, the recipient is notifiedthat the decryption pass-phrase is invalid or that the message isexpired. Otherwise, if the key pair was discovered, the message isdecrypted according to the key pair and pass decryption pass-phrase andsent to the recipient in step 114. When the message is opened, alifetime counter for the message is started in step 116. At this point,the key pair will be deleted from the external server based upon theconditions in step 120 which can be responsive to the message lifetime,stale message condition, or a destroy message command by the recipient.Once the recipient receives the decrypted message, the recipient has theopportunity to reply in step 122, if recipient does not reply theprocess ends. However, if the recipient does reply, the reply is sent tothe external server in step 124, encrypted with the original sender'sencryption key in step 126, and the message is forwarded to the internalserver for transmission to the sender to decrypt and view in step 128.If the sender decides to reply to the recipient's reply as illustratedin step 130 then the process begins again at step 92, otherwise, theprocess ends.

[0042] Referring now to FIG. 6, the process of encryption and decryptionusing the encryption key pair and pass-phrases will now be described inmore detail. When sender 16 a wishes to have an initial message 132 sentto recipient 20 a, the initial message is contained within a computerreadable medium 134 a. In FIG. 6, 134a and 134 b represent computerreadable medium and are shown as separate components. However, 134 a and134 b need not necessarily be separate and can be the same computerreadable medium. Encryption key pair 136 is created having encryptionkey 136 a and decryption key 136 b. This encryption key pair is used toencrypt the initial message to provide and an encrypted message 144. Theencryption key pair is then encrypted itself using an encryptionpass-phrase 38 b supplied by sender 16 a providing for encrypted keypair 140. At this point, the encryption pass-phrase and the unencryptedencryption key pair can be deleted from the computer readable medium sothat only encrypted message 144 and encrypted key pair 140 remain incomputer readable medium 134 a. Notification of encrypted messages 152is provided to recipient 20 a. At this point, recipient 20 a suppliesdecryption pass-phrase 146 to computer readable medium 134 b. Thedecryption pass-phrase may be used to decrypt the encrypted key pairinto a decrypted key pair 148. Once decrypted, the decrypted key pair isused to decrypt the initial message to provide a decrypted initialmessage 150 which is supplied to recipient 20 a.

[0043] While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been describedusing specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposesonly, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computerized system for encrypting anelectronic message between a sender and a recipient regardless ofwhether the sender or recipient are members of an encryption systemcomprising: a computer processor; a computer readable medium incommunications with said computer processor; a communications link forcommunications between said computer readable medium, a sender'sterminal and a recipients terminal; a set of non-member computerreadable instructions contained within said computer readable medium,when processed by a computer processor and in response to a membersending an electronic message to a non-member recipient from said senderterminal: prompting the member for an encryption pass-phrase at saidsender terminal, receiving an encryption pass-phrase from the member atsaid sender terminal, generating an encryption key pair, encrypting theelectronic message responsive to said encryption key pair so that saidkey pair may be used to decrypt said encrypted message, sending anotification to said recipient terminal that an encrypted message isavailable to the non-member recipient, encrypting said encryption keypair according to said encryption pass-phrase, prompting the non-memberfor a decryption pass-phrase corresponding to said encrypted message atsaid recipient, receiving said decryption pass-phrase from thenon-member, decrypting said encrypted key pair in response to receivinga decryption pass-phrase corresponding to said encryption pass-phrase,decrypting said encrypted message according to said encryption key pair,and, providing the decrypted message for review to said non-member sothat the non-member can receive and decrypt an electronic message from amember of an encryption system even though the non-member is not amember of the encryption system.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein saidset of non-member instructions includes instructions for: removing saidunencrypted key pair from said computer readable medium; and, removingsaid encryption pass-phrase from said computer readable medium so thatonly said encrypted encryption key pair is contained within saidcomputer readable medium.
 3. The system of claim 1 including: a memberdatabase contained within said computer readable medium having a memberrecord associated with each of the members of the encryption system; aset of member location instructions contained within said computerreadable medium for: querying said member database for determiningwhether the recipient has an associated record within said memberdatabase, and, executing said non-member instructions if no associatedrecord is found for the recipient in said member database.
 4. The systemof claim 1 wherein said non-member encryption instructions includesinstruction for: prompting the member at said sender terminal for amessage lifetime value; associating said message lifetime value with theencrypted message send by the member; and, a set of lifetime deletioninstructions contained within said computer readable medium for deletingsaid encrypted message upon expiration of said lifetime value associatedwith the electronic message so that upon expiration of said lifetimevalue the electronic message can not be decrypted and therefore isunavailable for review.
 5. The system of claim 1 including: a messagedatabase included within said computer readable medium having a messagerecord associated with the electronic message; and, said non-memberinstructions including instructions for: creating a message IDassociated with said electronic message to be sent to the non-member,storing said message ID within said message record associated with theelectronic message, and, storing said encrypted encryption key pairwithin said message record associated with the electronic message. 6.The system of claim 1 including a set of stale message instructionscontained within said computer readable medium for deleting saidencryption key pair associated with said encrypted message upon theexpiration of a predetermined period of time so that if the encryptedmessage is not decrypted within said predetermined period of time, theencrypted message is unavailable for review.
 7. The system of claim 1wherein: said non-member instructions include instruction for: promptingthe member at said sender terminal for a message lifetime value,associating said lifetime value with the encrypted message sent by themember, and, a set of lifetime deletion instructions contained withinsaid computer readable medium for deleting said encryption key pair uponexpiration of said lifetime value associated with the electronic messageso that upon expiration of said lifetime value the electronic messagecan not be decrypted and therefore is unavailable for review.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1 including deletion instructions contained within saidcomputer readable medium for deleting said encryption key pair uponreceiving a delete request from the non-member so that the non-membercan expressly request the encrypted message be made unavailable forreview.
 9. The system of claim 1 including: a member database containedwithin said computer readable medium having a member record associatedwith each of the members of the encryption system; a unique public keycontained within said member record associated with each of the membersof said encryption system; and, a set of reply instructions containedwith said computer readable medium in response to receiving a replycommand from the non-member recipient through said recipient terminalfor: receiving a reply message from the non-member recipient intendedfor the sending member; retrieving said unique public key associatedwith the sending member from said member database; encrypting said replymessage according to said unique public key of the sending member; and,informing said sending member that an encrypted reply message from thenon-menber is available for decrypting and review by the member so thata non-member can send an encrypted reply to a member of an encryptionsystem without having to be a member of that encryption system.
 10. Thesystem of claim 1 including: a member database contained within saidcomputer readable medium having a member record associated with each ofthe members of the encryption system; a unique private key containedwithin said member record associated with each of the members of theencryption system; a set of member instructions contained within saidcomputer readable medium in response to a first member sending anelectronic message to a second member for: retrieving a second member'spublic key from said member database, encrypting said electronic messageresponsive to said second member's public key; and, sending anotification to the second member notifying the second member that anencrypted message is available for decryption so that an electronicmessage is encrypted automatically and the receiving member is notifiedautomatically when an encrypted message is available for decryption andreview.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein said member instructionsinclude instructions in response to the second member requesting todecrypt the encrypted message for: retrieving a second member's privatekey from said member database; decrypting the encrypted electronicmessage from the first member according to said second member's privatekey; and, providing said decrypted electronic message to the secondmember for review so that an electronic message can be encrypted, sentfrom a first member to a second member, and decrypt automatically.
 12. Acomputerized system for encrypting an electronic message between asender and a recipient regardless of whether the sender or recipient aremembers of an encryption system embodied in a computer readable mediumcomprising: a means for receiving input from the sender including anencryption pass-phrase associated with an electronic message; a meansfor generating an encryption key pair for encrypting the message; ameans for encrypting the electronic message responsive to saidencryption key pair so that said key pair may be used to decrypt saidencrypted message; a means for encrypting said encryption key pairaccording to said encryption pass-phrase; a means for notifying arecipient non-member that an encrypted message is available to thenon-member for decryption and review; a means for receiving a decryptionpass-phrase from the non-member; a means for decrypting said encryptedencryption key pair in response to receiving a decryption pass-phrasecorresponding to said encryption pass-phrase associated with theelectronic encrypted message; a means for decrypting said encryptedmessage according to said decrypted encryption key pair; and, a meansfor providing the decrypted message to the recipient non-member so thatthe non-member can receive and decrypt an electronic message from amember of an encryption system even though the non-member is not amember of the encryption system.
 13. The system of claim 12 including: ameans for receiving a message lifetime value from the sender; means forassociating said message lifetime value with the encrypted message sentby the sending member; and, a means for deleting said encrypted messageupon expiration of said lifetime value associated with the electronicmessage so that upon expiration of said lifetime value the electronicmessage can not be decrypted and therefore is unavailable for review.14. The system of claim 12 including a means for deleting saidencryption key pair associated with said encrypted message upon theexpiration of a predetermined period of time so that if the encryptedmessage is not decrypted within said predetermined period of time, theencrypted message is unavailable for review.
 15. The system of claim 12including a means for deleting said encryption key pair upon receiving adelete request from said non-member so that the non-member can expresslyrequest for the encrypted message to be made unavailable for review. 16.The system of claim 12 including: a means for receiving a reply messagefrom the non-member intended for the sending member; a means forencrypting said reply message; and a means for informing the sendingmember that an encrypted reply message from the non-member is availablefor decrypting and review by the member so that a non-member can send anencrypted reply to a member of an encryption system without having to bea member of that encryption system.
 17. The system of claim 12including: a means for encrypting an electronic message sent between afirst member and a second member of an electronic encryption system;and, a means for sending a notification to the second member notifyingthe second member that an encrypted message is available for decryptionso that an electronic message is encrypted automatically and thereceiving member is notified automatically when an encrypted message isavailable for decryption and review.
 18. The system of claim 17including a means for decrypting the encrypted electronic message fromthe first member according to a decryption request from the secondmember so that an electronic message can be encrypted, sent from a firstmember to a second member, and decrypted automatically.
 19. The systemof claim 12 including: a means for receiving a message lifetime valuefrom the sender; a means for associating said lifetime value with theencrypted message sent by the sending member; and, a means for deletingsaid encryption key pair upon expiration of said lifetime value so thatupon the expiration of said lifetime value, the electronic message cannot be decrypted with said encryption keys.
 20. The system of claim 12including a means for deleting said encrypted message so that if saidencrypted message is not decrypted within prescribed a period of time,the message is unavailable for review.
 21. The method for encrypting anelectronic message between a sender in; and a recipient regardless ofwhether the sender or recipient are members of the encryption systemcomprising the steps of: receiving the electronic message supplied bythe sender to be sent to the recipient; receiving an encryptionpass-phrase supplied by the sender; generating an encryption key pairassociated with the message to be encrypted; encrypting the messageaccording to said encryption key pair so that said key pair may be usedto decrypt the encrypted message; sending a notification to therecipient that an encrypted message is available to the recipient forreview; and, encrypting said encryption key pair according to saidencryption pass-phrase.
 22. The method of claim 21 including the stepsof: receiving a decryption pass-phrase supplied by the recipient;decrypting said encrypted key pair in response to receiving a decryptionpass-phrase corresponding to said encryption pass phrase; decryptingsaid encrypted message according to said encryption key pair; and,providing the decrypted message for review to the recipient so that thenon-member can retrieve and decrypt the electronic message from a senderof an encryption system even though the recipient is not a member of theencryption system.
 23. The method of claim 21 including the steps of:destroying said unencrypted encryption key pair after encrypting saidkey pair; and, destroying said encryption pass-phrase so that only saidencrypted encryption key pair is remaining.
 24. The method of claim 21including the steps of: prompting the sender for a message lifetimevalue; associating said message lifetime value with the encryptedmessage; and, deleting said encrypted message upon said expiration ofsaid lifetime value so that upon expiration of said lifetime value, theelectronic message unavailable for review.
 25. The method of claim 21including the steps of deleting said encryption key pair associated withsaid encryption message upon the expiration of the predetermined periodof time so that if the encrypted message is not decrypted within saidpredetermined period of time, the encrypted message is unavailable forreview.
 26. The method of claim 21 including deleting said encryptionkey pair upon receiving a delete request from the recipient so that therecipient can expressly request for an encrypted message to madeunavailable for review.
 27. The method of claim 21 including the stepsof: providing a unique public key associated with the sender; receivinga reply message from the recipient intended for the sender; encryptingsaid reply message according to said unique public key; and, informingthe sender that the encrypted reply message from the recipient isavailable for review.
 28. The method of claim 21 including: supplying aunique public key associated with recipient; encrypting the electronicmessage responsive to said recipient's public key; and, sending anotification to the recipient notifying the recipient that an encryptedmessage is available for decryption and review.
 29. The method of claim28 including: supplying a unique private key associated with therecipient; decrypting the encrypted electronic message from the senderaccording to said recipient's private key; and, providing said decryptedelectronic message to the recipient for review.